i want to preface this by saying before i purchased this, i played the ♥♥♥♥ out of the demo, which is incredibly generous. it is literally just the game with limited car choice, that's pretty much it.
bought the supporter bundle on sale for $16.
i can't even properly explain the value here. this game is in a class of its own. if you loved Crossout but got sick of being blown out by people with irl $, or if your jam in the old times was twisted metal, this is a wet dream.
the world is WIDE open and i have not seen and end and pretty much the entire environment can be destroyed. trees, concrete bridge supports, these guys know what a fun driving experience is. these guys have created the DEFINITION of "will it create friction in the experience? we wont add. will this be incredibly fun for our players? let's add it". that is the vibe i get from just playing the game, joining the discord further reinforced my speculation.
i generally buy indie games on sale just because of all the bad EA titles that just fall out of development or end up being hot messes. when i find a gem like this, i purchase several copies for friends. these devs DESERVE IT 100%. buy the supporter pack, enjoy the artwork that comes with it, the soundtrack is a bonus too. the music isn't a groundbreaking hood classic, but it's solid enough to augment the gameplay and it's pretty easy to even just let it drone in the background while you work on other stuff in between encounters.
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OKAY NOW FOR THE MEAT OF THE REVIEW:
gameplay: physics are incredible. they feel fantastic while driving, and they allow for some hilarious "oh ♥♥♥♥ am i going to survive this?" moments. anyone who remembers the PS1 days where you could pixel-perfect yourself into a wall and launch yourself, or on xbox where halo has tons of examples of out of map/physic glitch launching, this game has it. i have barely tapped stuff and i've been wedge ever so gently between a rock or something and an enemy and i've seen the sun. i've touched it. i've bathed in its glory and on my way back to earth i contemplated the best way to blow up the mf who sent me there. projectiles have the GREATEST physics i've experienced in a game liek this. the lead requirements to hit targets is fantastic, and if you are scooting along and shoot to the side, the projectiles actually follow next to you until the gravity fall off takes place. this makes for some incredibly satisfying strafes and drive-bys. this game's gunplay is the best parts of crossout and twisted metal and then improved further than that.
customization: brothers, i don't even know what to say. the car list is very lengthy, and there are like 8 categories of components to change and upgrade, suspension, tires, weapons, cargo addons, legitimately cool skins, you can custom make liveries with unlocks for stickers and stuff.
so i actually went to the garage to give a list:
-13 cars (with more coming)
*these next ones might be subject to the type of vehicle you are driving but for the one i am currently driving:
- 7 suspensions, which include things like duallys, TRACKS, massive monster truck wheels, 6 wheel suspensions... i haven't unlocked everything but what i have unlocked is SO kino. each option DRASTICALLY changes how your vehicle plays and none of them change it for the worst so far after testing every suspension i've unlocked across 4 vehicles.
- 13 UNIQUE weapons - these range from miniguns, various flak cannons, and more (obvs). admittedly i have only unlocked a minigun and two versions of the flak cannon which is a standard and an auto. if you bind them together, the difference isn't noticeable but if you have a broad single target like a boss the differences start to emerge and it's great because the standard flak cannon is a MONSTER against single targets, while the auto fires in a tight enough pattern to hit 1-3 targets at a decent distance, but they require a ton of skill to lead the shot. it's very balanced though, i've never felt cheated though i've gotten very frustrated because skill issue lol.
- 25 types of wheels (there is no "coming soon" in this list, but i expect there are tons of possibilites)
- various body parts, which are per vehicle. stuff like hoods and lights and sidesteps
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graphics/UI:
very comprehensive. it's clearly very basic and nostalgic graphics, but the HUD/UI/graphics settings go so much deeper. there are several "useless" flavor elements to the HUD like your keys in the ignition and your speedometer along with an element that displays your overall health, and the health of individual components to your vehicle. i have not yet suffered any consequence to any of my vehicle components getting destroyed but i've gotten close and it impacts your vehicle.
i digress. these extra elements like random wires and stuff can be fine tuned, i think just about every element to the hud is adjustable except the compass up top that shows you objectives in the open world. THIS IS THE SORT OF BASIC ♥♥♥♥ THAT MAKES THIS GAME FEEL ALIVE. IT FEELS LIKE PEOPLE WHO WANT TO PLAY THIS GAME MADE THIS GAME. i think the basic graphics are set to nostalgia, but you can adjust other things like the static effect of the screen, shake, FOV... i found the "glitch" effect to be a bit much at first and i was sad then i checked the options and everything is perfect. that effect can be adjusted. everything... god.. the HUD can be scaled. this is the single greatest thing ever imo. as a 2k x 5k monitor user, this is truly a wonderful gift. i put that ♥♥♥♥ to small small small and it's great. you can even turn off the fkkn dust without even opening the graphics settings. it's just a game play setting. along with the ability to freely change your difficulty WHENEVER YOU WANT, and switching types of transmission.
GAME PLAY:
okay. i will admit, my experience with "racing" games is limited enough to the point where i don't know what the standard is for physics, but if every car game had physics like this game has, i'd play a lot more of them lol. the handling is very reminiscent of Art of Rally. iykyk. so far i've found that there is a fairly high skill ceiling to really tearing ass and keeping control outside of a straight line, but it starts getting easy once you understand that your car is actually a hovercraft of death and you're about to do the lord's work. as i previously stated each type of suspension affects your car's handling, so there is plenty of room to grow.
the events in the open world are kino as a mf. you just drive where you want, go to events you want to which range from 2-5 wave incursions where you basically just melt everything as fast as you can and you get loot. as you beat these smaller events, you work towards unlocking a boss fight which is also accessed by simply driving to it. it isn't convoluted. it isn't an extreme challenge. it is valuable and enjoyable progression that will test you if you aren't adept at driving or shooting, the former was true for me for a few hours, the latter for me is still true lmfao. that being said, at standard difficulty, i've never been blown up but i've gotten close many times and making it out truly feels like a miracle sometimes.
i wont spoil the depth/variety of these events in my review, just know that if you have reasonable expectations, you'll enjoy the loop a lot.
i've hit the max character limit on my review.
as i type this, just thinking of this game being only $10 full price is almost depressing lol. i sincerely hope to see this game get the love it deserves, and i sincerely hope that they either up the price or this is just a test run of their engine and they are cutting their teeth on this title to make something even more incredible as a sequel or something. these guys have captured lightning in a bottle.
